Philip Merivale

Philip Merivale
Merivale in The Stranger (1946)
Born(1886-11-02)2 November 1886
Rehutia, Manickpur, India
Died12 March 1946(1946-03-12) (aged 59)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • screenwriter
Years active1914–1946
Spouses
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(m. 1912; died 1934)​
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(m. 1937)​
Children4, including John
RelativesHerman Charles Merivale, uncle

Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 – 12 March 1946) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter.

Early years

Left to right: Edward G. Robinson, Richard Long, Loretta Young, Martha Wentworth, Orson Welles, Merivale, Byron Keith, and an unidentified actress in The Stranger (1946)

Merivale was born on 2 November 1886 in Rehutia, Manickpur, India, to railway engineer Walter Merivale (1855–1902) and Emma Magdalene Merivale ("Maggie"; née Pittman; 1854–1940); his father's profession meant the family lived in India, Costa Rica, and Barbados (where he was Manager of the Barbados Railway) before settling at Chiswick. Philip's sister, Dorothea, was married to the civil servant Sir Henry Bunbury, Accountant-General of the Post Office. His uncle, Herman Charles Merivale, was an English dramatist.

Merivale graduated from St Edward's School, Oxford. He planned to have a career in business and worked as an office boy in London before an interest in the stage took priority.

Career

Merivale was a respected stage actor who entered the cinema during the silent era. Merivale appeared in 20 films and also scripted one.

Merivale's professional stage debut came in 1906 in the F. R. Benson company's production of the Orestean Trilogy of Aeschylus. His Broadway debut came in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1910), and he was in Henry of Navarre (1910) on Broadway before he returned to England. He appeared in approximately 50 plays before returning to the United States in 1914 in a production of Pygmalion. Much of his theatrical training in England came under Herbert Beerbohm Tree.

Merivale's career was interrupted by his service in the Canadian Air Force during World War I, after which he came back to the United States in 1919, touring with George Arliss. After a return to England, he performed again in the United States, this time portraying Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.

Merivale's radio debut occurred on February 11, 1930, when he starred in "Death Takes a Holiday", the premiere episode of Play of the Month on CBS.

Personal life and death

Merivale was twice married to:

He died from a heart ailment aged 59.

Broadway roles

After creating the role of Col. Pickering in the London production of Pygmalion, Philip Merivale (second from right) played Henry Higgins opposite Mrs. Patrick Campbell (right) when Shaw's play was taken to Broadway (1914)
Philip Merivale and Patricia Collinge in the Broadway production of Pollyanna (1916)

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 "Philip Merivale". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  2. ↑ United States of America Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 87th Congress, First Session, vol. 107, part 9, United States Government Printing Office (Washington), 1961, p. 12008
  3. ↑ "Turtle Bunbury – Award-winning travel writer, historian and author based in Ireland". 2 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "Collection: Correspondence of the Merivale Family, mainly of Walter Merivale, railway engineer, and his wife Emma Magdalene | Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts".
  5. 1 2 "Philip Merivale, the Star of 'Cynara,' Has His Own Ideas". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 25 October 1931. p. E 1. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  6. ↑ Knox, Charles Victor (15 March 1935). "Helen Hayes Fights Illness To Play 'Mary of Scotland'". Buffalo Evening News. p. 17. Retrieved 2 September 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 "Philip Merivale Rose to Stardom by Dint of Work". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 6 November 1932. p. 61. Retrieved 2 September 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "No Spear Carrier He, Merivale Waved Palms". The Sun. Maryland, Baltimore. 2 December 1934. p. Section 1, p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Philip Merivale to Make Radio Debut Tuesday". The Hartford Daily Courant. 9 February 1930. p. E 13. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  10. ↑ London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
  11. ↑ Passenger Manifest SS Philadelphia 4 August 1906
  12. ↑ The Play-pictorial: Volume 20
  13. ↑ "Gladys Cooper Married: Actress Is Wed to Philip Merivale—Both Playing in Chicago". The New York Times. Associated Press. 1 May 1937. p. 16. Retrieved 2 September 2026.